By Marty Morrissey
Dull, uneventful, boring, not a lot happening here - sounds like you are waiting for the 46A bus to arrive but unfortunately it's the first quarter-final of the Bank of Ireland All-Ireland SFC.
A performance like this from the men in black makes one wonder what the hell was going on in Connacht this summer? Were Mayo, Galway, Leitrim, Roscommon that bad, or was this just a really bad day in the office for the Sligo men?
Either way, Sligo are out of the Championship with the acknowledgement and appreciation of their own folk that a provincial crown was won for the first time in 32 years.
But even allowing for that achievement, a small dent to their pride was inflicted not just by Cork but also by the ineptitude of their own performance.
The Connacht men started brightly. They were full of running and blitzed Cork initially. However, after ten minutes of play the Yeatsmen had only one point on the scoreboard - that scored by John McPartland after three and a half minutes.
It’s a telling statistic. Cork goalkeeper Alan Quirke, returning after a spell on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, made one fine save, and even he will admit that his defence looked a bit porous in that opening period.
But, unfortunately from their perspective, Sligo had really no game plan, no inventiveness, no creativity and more importantly no penetration up front. It killed off any chance they had of producing a shock on the day.
The Cork boys slowly settled and gradually found a rhythm. After ten long, agonising minutes, the Rebels finally scored thanks to ace marksman James Masters.
The turning point came after 16 minutes when Masters fed full-forward Cussen with a high ball. Ironically, Sligo captain Noel McGuire palmed the ball away from 6'7" giant from Glanmire only to find flying wing-forward John Miskella running through.
The converted half-back picked up the loose ball on his flight path and stroked the ball beautifully passed Sligo 'keeper Philip Green. It was a lead Cork would never lose.
Cork led by 1-03 to 0-02 at the interval, after a first half of poor fare. Sligo occasionally got the ball to their inside line and then the lack of confidence afflicted them in a major way.
Back and forth they went until eventually a Cork player got a hand to the ball and the Leesiders broke free and counter-attacked. The Sligo strategy of playing David Kelly more or less on his own in the full-forward line failed dismally, and to continue that plan for most of the second half was puzzling to say the least.
Cork started the second half with three unanswered points by Pearse O’Neill and Donncha O'Connor to make it 1-06 to 0-02. To all intents and purposes the game was now over.
Sligo rallied thanks to the great heart and drive shown by several players, but especially Johnny Davey at left half-back. Mark Breheny supported him gamely and contributed three fine points.
However, Cork dominated midfield, where Nicholas Murphy was outstanding with great support provided by Derek Kavanagh, and time after time they launched attack after attack.
The substitutes even got a run out towards the end and Conor McCarthy and Kevin O’Sullivan put their names on the scoresheet with the raising of two white flags, but overall this was far from being a polished performance by Cork.
The long high ball was catapulted into Cussen at almost every opportunity, but the quality of the delivery was very poor.
What’s wrong with kicking a long ball from midfield that will hop into the outward running full-forward? Why does the ball have to hang in the air and gather ice before it comes back to earth dead smack in front of the opponents' goal? By the time it drops back from outer space the opposing defenders are all back behind the ball.
I saw Cussen play against Kerry in the Munster final in Killarney and I feel he has talent and ability. To maximise that talent the Cork players must learn to kick the ball fast and long rather that high and long. There is a difference.
Billy Morgan will be happy to be back where he was this time last year- in an All-Ireland semi-final.
He knows the Cork potential better than most, but they have two weeks to sort out their game plan. They can win the next day but they have to improve. Cork usually raise their game for about four counties in Ireland.
It’s the Cork psychology you see that's half the problem. They don’t think they’re the best…they know they are the best and that applies to hurling, to football to Roy Keane!
So what counties do Cork elevate their game for? Answer - Kerry, Dublin, Galway and last but not least…..Meath. Remember 1987, 1988 and of course 1990 - the year of the Cork double?
Ah yes….the good days are back and with Morgan and Colm Coyle manning the sidelines expect the Rebels and the Royals to be some battle. Roll on 19 August.
PS. The news is filtering through to me tonight that James Masters has a broken jaw in two places and looks at this stage to be definitely out for the Meath clash.
His loss will be huge and will almost certainly make Meath overwhelming favourites to book a place in the All-Ireland final. But as all GAA people will know…never, ever write off a Corkman!
Cork: A Quirke; M Shields, G Canty, K O'Connor; N O'Leary, G Spillane, A Lynch; D Kavanagh (capt), N Murphy; J Miskella (1-00), P O'Neill (0-01), K McMahon (0-01); J Masters (0-04, 2f), M Cussen, D O'Connor (0-03, 2f).
Subs used: C McCarthy (0-01) for Miskella, F Goold for McMahon, K O'Sullivan (0-01) for Masters, B Collins for Murphy
Sligo: P Greene; C Harrison, N McGuire (capt), R Donovan; P McGovern, M McNamara, J Davey; E O'Hara (0-01), K Quinn; B Curran, M Breheny (0-03, 1f), B Egan; D Kelly, S Davey (0-02), J McPartland (0-01).
Subs used: K Sweeney for McPartland, P Doohan for Curran, G McGowan for S Davey, P Gallagher (0-01) for J Davey.
Referee: Pat McEnaney (Monaghan).
